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Tax Facts - Since most of us have filed and paid our federal taxes by now, these items seem in the rear-view mirror for at least a little while. While the pain of paying in more, or the pleasure of getting a refund is fresh, I wanted to share these facts about our tax system:
1. Americans will collectively burn nearly 6.93 billion hours filing their federal tax returns this season. That’s $477 billion all-in, once you add up lost productivity and out-of-pocket costs for software and tax pros, which is the equivalent of more than 3 million full-time workers doing nothing but taxes for an entire year. - National Taxpayers Union Foundation, April 13, 2026
2. The average federal tax refund this filing season climbed to $3,571, an 11% jump from last year. More than 53 million filers claimed at least one new deduction from the 2025 tax bill, including tip income, overtime, auto loan interest, or senior-specific, for an average cut of more than $800. - CNBC, April 17, 2026
3. When the 16th Amendment birthed the modern income tax in 1913, Form 1040 was just three pages, along with a single page of instructions. The top federal rate was 7%, and it only kicked in on income above $500,000, the equivalent of roughly $15 million today. Today's federal tax code and regulations? A few thousand pages longer. - Library of Congress – In Custodia Legis, April 14, 2017
4. Nine states collect no tax on wages or salaries at all: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming… but the fine print matters. New Hampshire still taxes interest and dividends (phasing out by 2027), and Washington now taxes capital gains above a threshold. Said another way… "no income tax" is often a brand as much as a reality. - Kiplinger, February 12, 2026
5. In 70 AD, Emperor Vespasian imposed a tax on urine collected from public toilets, which was sold to Roman launderers and tanners who prized it for the ammonia. When his son Titus objected to the indignity, Vespasian held up a gold coin and asked if it smelled bad. And when Titus said no, he replied, "Yet it comes from urine." This conversational exchange birthed the Latin phrase pecunia non olet - "money doesn't stink" - which is still used today to defend revenue of dubious origin.
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